Falling Through Space
by WhimsicDoctor13
Summary: It's been over a year since Rose was abandoned at Dårlig Ulv Stranden with a man she didn't know, and still can't seem to accept him. But now they must work together after Torchwood is victim of an alien bombing. Someone is stirring in the shadows, someone who hates the Doctor more than anyone. RP w/ fandommuncheralice. I'm Rose, she's the Doctor. Rating will go up cos detailed sex
1. Chapter 1- Iron Curtain

Sitting upon his desk in the Torchwood base the Doctor spun around in his chair impatiently. As much as he loved the world to be at peace , it was boring. Really boring. He was used to adventuring ,sitting down doing desk work was not his forte. It was driving him insane. He yelled in frustration, gripping his hair. Rose sighed a little as she heard his frustrated yell, so familiar. _Here he goes again, and soon there'll be hell to pay_.

"There's no use moanin', it's not going to make it grow any faster." she called back over the side of her cubicle, referring to the piece of TARDIS that had been given to them a year before by the Other Doctor (Rose felt a pang every time she tried to call him that, he _was_ the original, after all) and it had grown to half the size of a fridge.

"It might!" He rolled along on his chair , his lengthy legs dangling off the edge. " Please tell me you are nearly as bored as I am." He asked as he entered her cubicle, where she had been _actually_ dutifully doing her work.

Rose tried not to smile. She sucked on her bottom lip. "Not now, I have to analyze these Hypextradon chromosomes, they think they have a new advanced way of doubling, and _I_ have actual work to do."

"Ugggh!" He leaned back on his chair. He also had plenty of work to do , as evident by the growing pile of paper work he had growing on his desk. And the long list of impatient emails from several members of staff requesting his work on the thermodynamics of a newly emerged black hole. He never had been good with deadlines. Pete was such as slave driver. "Tonight ,we are going out for dinner."

Rose raised an eyebrow, a habit she'd picked up from spending so much time with the king-of-left-eyebrow-raising himself. "You never used to have such a problem with research." Rose started to say, but she bit her tongue when she remembered it was the OTHER Doctor who had researched with such a thirst, and it was probably the human but that was reluctant. Not like her Doctor. Rose mentally shook herself. 'Her' Doctor. Stop that. He had abandoned her on that beach, and even though it had been a year, that longing for the man she fell in love with kept a wedge between- Doctor 2.0 and her from REALLY being together. Oh, they'd bonded, absolutely. She had been harsh to him for a while, refusing to accept him. She could still see the absolutely wounded look he'd given her when she had seemingly tossed him away, refusing to look at him. She knew he still hurt from that. Now they were good friends, innocently flirting, but they were both bruised and damaged, and she knew he still ached for his TARDIS every day. Nothing had 'happened happened' yet, but the palpable tension remained innocently unspoken. It's just probably him being antsy without traveling through time and space that has made him disinterested in his work, that's all. Rose convinced herself. Instead she laughed. "So say you? We both know my dad may have other plans- and your paperwork looks like it'll keep you here all night." she nodded at the huge stack of papers.

Trying to hid his disappointment he kept up a jolly façade, he grinned, frozen. "Another night then?" He scooted back to his cubicle. Perhaps he should do his work. He understood why she rejected him but it didn't soften the blow. He wasn't her Doctor and he knew he never would be. The look in on her face every time she saw him from the corner of her eye screamed relief and joy when she would briefly forget that he wasn't her Doctor. Soon that look would be replaced by sorrow at her abandonment. He knew they would never have the relationship she had experienced with the Doctor , but that didn't stop him longing for to accept him. In saying that he never pushed her. He understood her pain and he would never throw himself upon her. He was willing to remain by her side as a friend for the rest of his life. All he wanted was for her to be happy. Sighing to himself he picked up the first stack of papers and began reading through the words ,trying to blot out his thoughts.

She saw the wounded glint in his eye again and noticed how his peppiness almost deflated. "Hey," she called back, almost hesitantly. "Another night, okay?" she smiled, almost sadly. She cleared her throat. "The- the TARDIS coral is doing well though, don't you think? What's the Time Lord opinion?" she changed the subject, putting extra emphasis on the words 'Time Lord', almost as if to say, you are him. It's okay.

Dropping the papers to the table he mused for a moment , running his fingers through his (glorious) hair. " She seems to growing well enough , once she is fully grown I`ll have to teach her the ropes. That`ll take a while , stubborn things." He muttered the last part. He appreciated the `Time lord` comment , but he knew she was doing it to be kind. She was so kind , that was one of the many factors he adored about her.. Focus. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it.

"Good, good. So how soon do you think she'll be ready?" Rose asked, trying to stem the awkward sadness.  
He leaned back in his chair. " A couple of years maximum. Its a slow and long process. But worth the wait." He finished trying his best not to seem to heavy. He would act fine , he didn't want his angst dragging her down.  
Rose nodded and went back to typing, but couldn't concentrate. She felt strangely gutted, actually. A few moments passed until she stood and leaned over the cubical and snatched the Doctor's papers from his hands. "Oi, change of plans." she said playfully. "Forget the bloody paperwork. Let's ditch for an hour, there's always something if we poke our nose in a few places where Torchwood hasn't." Her mood change was sudden and falsely chipper, but seeing him suddenly depressed would do that. She knew he already had other things to be sad about besides... "them", if there even was a them. She knew he had nightmares they both never mentioned.

His trademark grin stretched out onto his face , his dark eyes lighting up behind his glasses. "What do you have in mind Miss Tyler?" He asked leaning forward on his elbows. He could see the false happiness glimmer in her eyes. she was worried. Of course she was , worrying was what she did best. It was a surprise to him she hadn't already gone grey from stress. He would play along though , he didn't have it in his heart to reject her. Even though she had done so , so many times.

"Well, I don't know. You're the expert." She came around to his cubical and perched on his desk, like she had on the console when she was still practically a child, before the years had matured her and made her buckle down to be a professional adult. "Weren't you fiddling with some homemade device last night? Said it was a tracking device, but you were kinda out of it. Mum said you'd been up all night.

"Ah" Curse Jackie and her beady eyes. " it`s just a little project I`m working on. I like to keep my hands busy." He wiggled his fingers for effect. " I`ll show you it when its done. It`s a surprise." He made no attempt to explain his lack of sleep. Like the `real` Doctor he wasn't one for expressing feelings and fears. He wouldn't want to worry her anyway , it has his job to worry about her , not the other way round. But her words were true , he was exhausted. Peaceful sleep had been evading him for a while and it was beginning to take a toll on him. He was terrible in the mornings. Rose shifted and stood up off the desk, coming around to his other side. "A surprise?" she smiled, ignoring the hollowness around his eyes.

"Not sure if I should like the sound of that or not." Rose laughed a little. "So is there any other gadget you've got up your sleeve we could use to find something? If you're so bored, what do you want to do that could get SOME work done? Come on," she nudged his shoulder playfully, feeling the boniness painfully noticing that he'd lost even more weight. If he was skinny before, he was nearly emaciated now. "I know you." she said, saying this purposefully to reassure him. It was the least she could do after how horrible she had been to him those first few months. "You're twitching to go investigatin' or runnin' around aimlessly. Your choice."

"Well," He spoke sheepishly "I couldn't help notice an 'unusual signal' coming from the basement." He pulled what looked like a calculator from his pocket." So I did some tinkering , made this." He shook the item. " It's emitting a beta base code of some sort, nothing I've seen before. Wanna check it out?" He stretched, his aching joints clicking painfully as he did so.

"Do you even need to ask?" Rose smiled a bit more genuinely as she saw that familiar glint in his eye. She hadn't seen that glint for a long time, and she hadn't realized how empty his eyes had looked without it.

That smile. He loved that smile , the way her cheeks perked. It was very distracting. How did the Doctor manage not to turn into a dribbling mess on the floor was beyond him. But even so the smile was half hearted. He made it his mission today to make her smile genuinely. Perhaps then he could sleep soundly tonight. Yes that was a good aim for today. Better than yesterday's, at least, (explain to Rose how he felt and that he didn't mind etc, he never did achieve that one). Getting to his feet he ignored his muscles protesting , he really should of been taking better care of himself , surely she had noticed his deterioration. Another goal for today , have a proper lunch. "Well then, let's do this!"

"Great!" Rose smiled again, and casually added, "Let's stop for some lunch on the way, I've been craving chips."

_2005. The first day she had spent with him. They had been to the end of the world and back, and the other Doctor, the one with the intense blue eyes and funny ears had asked her- would she like to stay? Then they'd gone and had fish and chips together, a day they would reminisce lying on the apple grace on the paradise that was New New New New New New New New New New New New York. "Our first date." Rose had laughed. The Doctor had smiled fondly. "We had chips."_

He scowled. "Sure." Striding through the offices , he keep peering over his shoulder as slyly as he could to ensure , she still remained behind him. Surely she wouldn't abandon him now? _She`s done worse ,_ he reminded himself. _Shush_. Approaching the lift he stabbed at the button.

She cocked her head at his sudden violent movements. "You okay?" Rose asked softly, coming up beside him. What a stupid question. Of course he wasn't okay. "If you don't like chips anymore, we could get something else." she said hesitantly. "I just thought... like the... old days. You know, like after our first trip together." Rose felt stabs of pain but she said it casually. This was the closest they'd been to the subject since the first month, some biting words she'd said that he didn't respond to.

"Chips are fine." He had lost his appetite , well that aim had already gone down the toilet. Great start. Stepping into the lift, he waited for her to enter before , with effort to make his motions languid , pressing the basement button. He peered at her as she stood beside him , it looked to him that she was maintaining as much distance as she could from him in the small space. It didn't look like he was going to make any progress on his other aim. He really was pathetic.  
The silence between them was awkward again. One minute they could be laughing and joking and the next, walking on eggshells. He had always had strokes of depression, more frequently back at the beginning when they'd first met- and not just THIS version of him. In very beginning, with the blue eyed, quieter Doctor, he would have quiet, burning moments. He would have nightmares of the Time War. The periods of depression and the nightmares had decreased into almost nothingness, until the day of Canary Wharf. Now this Doctor- the human one- was rarely anything but. The dreams were coming back again. She sometimes heard him cry out in his sleep. Rose cleared her throat. "This signal, how is it irregular exactly?"

"It keeps fluctuating. Which isn't unusual in itself , but the levels in rises and drops to. Almost off the scale." He only managed to catch her question , his mind was wondering as it usually did. Why was he even bothering? No , none of that. Maybe he should see a psychiatrist. That could help. But there was only one person he wanted to speak to and she wasn't ready to hear the words he longed to say.

"And it's happening right in the basement of Torchwood? Hasn't anyone else noticed it if it's happening right under our noses

"You don`t notice things if you don`t look for them." He murmured. Pulling his thingymabob ( he hadn't come up with a name for it yet , it was a work in progress) out of his pocket he read the jumbled letters and numbers on the screen. " It`s pretty low now .Undetectable to everything but this." He peers around not seeing anything of interest in the local area. " We should split up , cover more ground." It would be easier to think without her presence clouding his vision.

"Tryin' to get rid of me?" she asked playfully, but she really felt a sickening weight in the pit of her stomach. "Huh? I thought havin' fun was the entire point, if I wanted to be alone and efficient, I would've stayed upstairs working on the bloody doubling of the Hypextradon chromosomes." It was reassuring that she hadn't ditched him , it was a test of sorts so see how she reacted, he had expected her to agree and wander off on her own devices. Did he have reason to hope? "True." He bobbed his head. "It should be easy enough to spot , might glow , flash , hum. Anything alieny." He yet again deliberately chose to not reply to the former question. He didn't really want her to go. She was smart enough to know that.

"I'd think the security cameras would pick up something obviously-" she dropped her tone to that of the Doctor's, imitating his warbling voice, "_'alieny_.'"

"Maybe its hidden?" He spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Though he couldn't help the smirk that appeared on his face in response to her mimicking. It was terrible but funny nonetheless.

"Maybe." Rose laughed in a slightly mocking tone that clearly said, "Nooooo, really?" They walked a little ways, throughout the stacks of old boxes and alien junk. "Where'd you say the signal was the strongest?"  
He threw her the thingymabob. "You tell me." He came to a stop and shoved his hands in his pockets.

Rose studied the strange numbers that spiked across the calculator's screen. She spun clockwise, and the numbers decreased. "Judging by the numbers and symbols..." a cube sign showed up next to the numbers. "The numbers go up more in the directions the signals are more irregular, they're tripled over here." Genius in it's simplicity, really.

He REALLY couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. This was what his life was about. Extending his hand out to her , his fingers wiggling with a silent offer. He had wanted to give her room , a chance to decide for herself but he just couldn't help himself.  
This was the Doctor she would used to, the one who was guiding her. He had been so... unconfident lately, so hesitant around her. Even now, every movement of his screamed nervousness. He was dying for her to take his hand, begging, pleading with his eyes. But as Rose saw that little finger wiggle, on that hand outreached, the past lurched at her.

_It was christmas. Ashes from the Sycorax ship fell like snow into his new hair. He grinned and reached out for her, wiggling his fingers comically. "It's still so weird." she'd laughed, taking it. "It's gonna be fantastic." he'd smiled hugely. She had still been so young back then, still healing from the death of the first Doctor she fell in love with, but she had faith. Faith that it was the same man. Why couldn't she accept it now, when he was even more similar to the Doctor she knew than the Doctor had been like the Doctor back then... her thoughts made no sense._

She forced herself back to the present and forced herself to grab his hand. She squeezed it. "Run?" Rose smiled

The time between the offer and the acceptance felt like a lifetime to him but GOD was it worth the wait. For a moment he had feared she would recoil in disgust. But she hadn't! Perhaps she had needed that little push , that little reminder that he still was her Doctor , despite the lack of two hearts. He could be her Doctor! He would be if she allowed , and from how tightly she griped his hand in hers all signs were looking good. "Oh yes!" He said huskily , in the identical manner in which the Doctor had always done.

They ran together, hand in hand through the dark basement, and though Rose kept her eyes on the "thingymabob", she could feel gratitude. The look of absolute relief he'd given her was nearly heartbreaking, but in the dark she could almost imagine it was like old times. She wasn't even looking where she was really going, partly because she couldn't bring herself to look at the Doctor's face in fear of breaking the spell, when the calculator's old screen suddenly flashed to 99999999999999 cubed, and then "syntax error". Rose stopped. "I think we're on it."

"Ohhh." Still clinging onto her hand- the mere thought of letting go seeming ridiculous to him- he took the machine into his other hand. He rattled it a couple of times. "I think you`re right." Peering around , pulling Rose with him as he did , his eyes narrowed on a seemingly uninteresting item. "Wow." He breathed. The small shard had several lights that flashed in unison, lighting up the dimly lit corridor. "You are _beautiful_."

Rose breathed as the strange thing bounced light around the room like a kaleidoscope. "I thought we only kept useless things down here. What the hell is it?" She leaned closer to stare at it, felt the warmth of his skin so near hers. "It doesn't seem to be alive... even if it had something inside it, they would've removed it, not let it rot away down here or possibly wreak havoc."  
He dropped the thingymabob , having lost all interest in it.

"Of course they would think you are useless." He cooed. "But you are not! You are _lovely_." Picking it up in his spare hand he gleamed , enjoying the gentle vibrations it made as he held it. " Do you know what this is?" He showed it to her, handling it very carefully as if he feared it would break. He didn't give her a chance to respond. "It`s an emotional harmonizer. It brings everything that is good in you , memories , feelings , to the surface. They were often given as gives, often to the bereaved to help them remember the good times." He felt it in his hand. He remember the time he stepped out of the TARDIS , dressed in glorious jamies , the look of relief on her face as she turned away from the Sycorax to smile at him. Only at him. The time in which they stood staring at each other at either end of the road , having not seen each other since... The look of utter adoration and relief at seeing him once more. The time on the beach , when the Doctor said good bye for the second time. When he has said those words he had so longed to say. He smiled and passed it over to her. "Here."

Rose looked surprised. "You can't give it to me." she whispered, pressing it back into his hands, smiling slightly. "I always remember the good times. I'm not the one who needs it." She closed his fingers around it.

"Just being around it effects you." He pushed it back into her hands. He wanted her to feel it. "Must of been calling out. It needs to help , thats what it does. Must of sensed the... negative emotions and started calling attention to itself." he murmured nearly inaudibly. She turned it over and over in her hands. "Negative emotions, huh?" she murmured almost inaudibly. Rose tried to catch his eye again, but he was looking away, pretending to be absorbed in his damned thingymabob. She wanted to say something, confront him over his sleepless nights and dead eyes, but she didn't really know what to say. Maybe over lunch, once she got food into him. She couldn't remember the last time she saw him eat, very unlike him, who, up until recently, had always had a habit of putting things in his mouth. "How 'bout those chips, eh?" Rose coughed awkwardly.

He smiled, taking the shard back into his hands , which with much adoration he placed into his pocket. "I was hoping you would say that." Refusing to let go of her hand , he led the way back to the lift. This time at a leisurely stroll. He couldn't help but swing their hands between them. He wasn't sure if the emotional harmonize wasn't working it's magic or it was Rose's warm hand in his that kept a grin upon his face.

The weird little shard really seemed to be working it's magic. In a matter of seconds, the Doctor had transformed from the listless stranger she'd come to know over the last 14 months to the vivacious, energetic alien she had known for years before. Her own heart had lifted somewhat, but mostly of it's own accord when she saw him come back to life. And she gave him a genuine smile as they got in her car and drove to the nearest fish and chips shop.

Rose let him feast on his fish and chips for a few minutes, and when he had nearly finished, she wiped her hands on her napkin and took a deep breath. "Doctor," she paused, "are you... okay? And don't just say that you're always okay," she stopped him as he opened his mouth. "I just wanted to know if you needed to, you know. Talk. Or anythin'." Rose fiddled with her napkin almost self-consciously.

Damn she saw straight through him. He wasn't sure on how to approach this. Should he be blunt and tell her all of his issues; why he cant sleep at night , why he hadn't been eating , why just being around her made him a quivering mess. Or should he be subtle about it and talk around the subject. He wondered what would be the best approach. He looked up from his empty plate , she looked worried , he had been silent for quiet some time , judging how best to approach this. He trusted her , she deserved to know. He also figured that if he wanted her to trust him , to open up to him he would have to do the same. "I`m not okay." He said simply. Rose had known this, but hearing him say it was still like a punch to the gut. He- or the old Doctor at least- almost never let her see his vulnerable side. He was the warrior, the teacher who taught her everything. Even when she had heard him- the _other _him, the- _real _one- screaming in the night sometimes, he gruffly had just said he was dreaming about the time war. That was that. This Doctor and the Other Doctor both had that in common. "I know you're not." she nearly whispered. "And I reckon it's mostly my fault." His knuckles were white. "I'm sorry."

"Rose-" he tried, but she slammed her hands on the table, causing the silverware to rattle and draw attention from a few other customers in the shop. She didn't care. She could feel herself breaking away from the shard's programming, her thoughts too distressed and violent to be held down."I _threw_ you away. After that first day, I KISSED you. I was so selfish to kiss you when you-" she stopped, blinked away tears of guilt. "I kissed you, and-" _And then I was horrible to you._

_It had been a week since Rose had been abandoned on Bad Wolf Bay for the second time. She had withdrawn, letting go of the Doctor's hand as it slowly hit her that he was really and truly _gone. _And she was left with a stranger._

_The imposter had kept quiet, giving her space. But then he'd tried. Come into the living room, comforting, hopeful, silently begging for acceptance. And she'd exploded. "Don't you dare even try to tell me that you're the same, don't you dare." Rose had screamed into his face. "You might as well be a- a robot. A copy! For all I'd care, you're just as good as a new breed of Slitheen inside his skin." He was quiet as she spat in his face, but he still tried. "Rose-" He'd reached out to her. Her hand had stung after she slapped him across the face. "No! Don't you ever call me that again!" Rose had screamed until her voice was hoarse. Her name in his voice, with his face, it was an insult. The Metacrisis Doctor had been frozen like a statue, one thin hand cradling his face. She'd leaned in, and whispered venomously, "You're not him. You. Sicken. Me."_

Rose rubbed her forehead back in the present. "I never said sorry."

"You don`t have to. There is nothing to forgive." He shook his head , he remembered what she had said. How much the words stung. More than that, they'd nearly killed him. He remembered that he couldn't move. Every word she said was like a slow knife, cutting and slitting. By the time she was done , he couldn't breathe. He wanted to run , he had spent his who life running away, but this time he felt like there wasn't a point. He was alone, without his beloved blue box who had stayed with him even when he'd lost everything. Now he didn't even have that. He couldn't run from words when he wanted nothing more to run to the very person how spat them at him. "I could never be angry at you."

"Well you should be, god dammit." she stood up and pushed over her empty basket of chips. "You used to get angry at me! Remember?! You almost left me behind, you called me a stupid ape, remember?" How she wanted to hear him say that again. It would be the old Doctor, not this passive, helpless man she'd reduced to nothing with her foul looks, burning words. Rose sat again, calmly. "Don't say there is nothing to forgive, because if you don't at least- at least accept that I'm saying sorry, I'll never be able to look at you again." she pleaded.

His eyes narrowed , pulling the shard out of his pocket he dropped it on the floor and stomped on it. It was clouding his judgement. Everything was hazy ,everything was pink and fluffy. He shook his head , feeling it`s influence seep away. Rose flinched as the thing turned to trash. It had been making him better, why did she always have to ruin everything?

"I forgive you." He took her hand and laid a kiss on her knuckle. "If it's any consolation I do not regret kissing you on the beach. And to be honest I wouldn't mind doing it again."

"You can't just _do_ that. You have to be _angry_, or you're useless. Just a little bit, that's all." She jerked her hand away. "We've been putting this off for too long. Tell me, please. Just tell me."

He shrugged. "Do you want me to yell at you?" He turned to the audience they had seemed to have gathered. They seemed to be troubled by his glare and tried to as nonchalantly as possible return to their activities " Yes I was hurt. Yes I was angry. I thought after everything I've done for you , you have the nerve to throw it in my face." The Doctor never raised his voice, that was the worst thin, it remained cold. "But no, I don`t hate you. You were the first face this face had seen. Well. Technically." he winced a little, remembering he wasn't truly _that _face."But I was created for you, literally. I don't have it _in_ me to hate you. But you know what? I thought I'd be patient, I thought I'd be the mature one. But no you had to cling onto you false ideals that I was a monster just because you couldn't have your own way. Happy?" He finished waiting for her reaction. Desite his calm voice, his thin shoulders heaved.

It hurt to hear him say it, but it was a good sort of pain. She was losing her grip on the world. Rose opened her mouth- to say sorry? to thank him?- when an enormous _boom_ shook the earth. For a brief moment, she was flying, hurtling around tables and silverware and chips and she could see the Doctor's shocked expression as he reached out for her in the air, and suddenly remembered what a tall dark stranger had once told her. _The entire planet is hurtling around the sun at 67,000 thousand miles an hour and I can feel it._ Rose watched as, almost in slow motion, the napkins and silverware almost seemed to hover in the air. _We're falling through space, you and me._ The man who felt like a stranger reached out for her, mouthed her name in surprise. _Clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go... _She couldn't let go, though. Couldn't let go of that first _proper _Doctor with two hearts in the blue box. _That's who I am._

_Now forget me, Rose Tyler._

* * *

_It gets better, I promise! Keep in mind, it's an RP so we usually don't plan it out or anything and all these ideas are on the fly. I've lightly edited it to have better starting/ending points and edited out some unneeded detail to make it more "fic"like, and less RP-like. But stick around! Angst, fluff, and smut are all in here! :D_


	2. Chapter 2- Climbing and Politics

Tables overturned, cups shattered, the deep fryer splashed oil over a few very unfortunate customers. Both Rose and the Doctor were thrown to the ground. Rose shielded the Doctor and the back of her neck until the flying debris ceased raining down. "That sounded like an explosion." she gasped.

"Really?" He asked from beneath her , his eyebrow raised. Gently moving her out of the way , he got to his feet and offered her his hand. Yanking her up he pulled out his phone from his pocket. Luckily it hadn't been damaged. He stabbed in Torchwood's number as he leapt through the open window , still holding onto her hand , dragging Rose along with him.

They stumbled out onto the patio. Rose shielded her eyes, trying to see through the dust and ash. The wind was blowing whatever had exploded in their direction. "It looks like it came right next to Torchwood." she coughed, trying to avoid the screaming civilians. The zeppelins whizzed frantically above like confused birds

"Dammit." He stared at the screen, he wasn't getting anything from Torchwood. He turned his attention to Rose. "Are you alright? You didn't have to do that."

"Don't be an idiot, of course I did." she said, phone to her ear. After a few moments she gave up. "Nothing." she sighed. Then she froze. Rose's eyes widened in panic as it dawned on her. "Doctor. Right. Near. Torchwood."

"I know." He broke into a sprint, towing Rose along like one of those trolleys old ladies use. Dashing down the road they were met with chaos. Torchwood tower was in ruins. Debris rained from the sky , the ground was littered with pieces of charred paper. For a moment the Doctor wondered if any of the paper was his. _I guess that means I don't have to do any more paperwork today. _The building itself was exposed, its charred skeletal frame still rumbling precariously. For a moment, Rose was frozen in shock. Anyone would be, but the Rose who had been to hell and back over the years snapped into action almost immediately.

"How many people do you remember being inside? It was nearly empty when we were there, most had gone off for lunch." Her words were abrupt, almost military in speech pattern as she marched briskly towards the burning wreckage.

"I don't know- maximum 100, minimum 50?" The Doctor smacked his head. _Think! How could this happen? Foul play's obviously the cause, but who? _He had been too wrapped in his own thoughts to notice. Cybermen were the obvious answer, but according to Rose, they had been handled, the issue solved. _Explosion_._ An act of terror, not an outright act of war, and there hadn't been an accounts of power fluctuations countrywide. The number of missing individuals hasn't risen above the national average. Not cybermen, then._

"Cybermen wouldn't blow up Torchwood, they'd attempt to upgrade the inhabitants." Rose broke in. Either she'd read his mind or he'd thought out loud. "Daleks, explosion is unlikely. An act of cowardice from the Superior Beings would be a no go."

He stalked back and forward on the spot. His mind suddenly blazed with an idea, he leapt away from Rose he dashed over the rubble, ignoring the moans of pain and cries of fear. If he could get into the security matrix he could at least get an idea. The bomb had obviously been planted inside the building (suggested by the damage, the debris was blown away from the building) so that means that the perpetrator could pass as human. The bio-scanners at the entrance- they would have to be human or at least be able to pass as human biologically. Scrambling up the bridge of concrete he turned as he heard foot steps stamping after him. It was Rose. The building could collapse any moment. He would not let her follow him.

"No, they need you." He nodded to the debris. "I'll be fine."

"No you won't, you're never 'fine' when you're alone. There's nothing I can do, the rescue team is already on it's way. So shut up and tell me where we're headed."

He huffed. Stubborn. "To the security matrix, I want to have a look at whoever did this. They looked human I think. Not sure on whether they were though. The explosion came from inside the building so they must of been caught on camera. Hopefully its not too damaged."

"You think they were human looking?" she huffed as she pumped her legs, nimbly jumping over fallen debris. "Because they got into Torchwood? Couldn't they have used a droid or somethin' to place the explosive underneath or outside? Where d'you think the origin of explosion was?"

"No it was inside. It had to have been. The trajectory of the debris is out, away from the building from the inside. Now for being human- unbeknownst to you, the entrance of the building is rigged with a bio-scanner. Anything non human passes, everyone would know about it."

Rose paused to let him catch his breath, she'd worry about him later. "So, you sayin' that we've gotta mole, or what?" Rose knew for a fact that they didn't use to have bio-scanners, enough aliens had snuck in during the years she'd been trying to get back to the other universe for her to know that much. "Funny, didn't have bio scanners before. Did you build em'?"

"Yep, I had to program it to recognize me of course. I didn't fancy being attacked every time I came to work." Approaching a gaping hole in the floor he peered down. The drop wasn't that far.  
"About the mole, I have no idea. We will have to wait and see."

Without even stopping to ask, Rose squatted down, grabbed the edge of where the hole ended, and swung through it, letting go and dropping onto the story below. It hurt for a while of course, as expected, but nothing too bad. She stood and peered up at him. "Come on then, the stairs are blocked and elevators out of order. Security's this way." she jerked her head off to the general left. He followed her down, falling rather ungracefully. Clambering to his feet he followed suit. She seemed to know where she was going better then he did. "Anything out of the ordinary happen lately?"

She rubbed at a knot in her neck, thinking. "No, I can't think of anything. I would've suggested we check it out today when we were 'bored'." The gravity of the situation was not lost on her. She had been nearly done with her work, if they hadn't gone looking for the now-destroyed shard of euphoria and then gone out for chips, she would have left him to finish the paperwork. He would have been in the building when it blew. Something was niggling in the back of Rose's mind, something important and worrying, but the adrenaline clouded over everything but her sharpened current focus. They arrived to where security used to be, the door had cracked in half, and a small fire burned across a broken file cabinet, feeding on folders and contracts. Hopefully the inside was not too damaged.

"Well, we caught a lucky break. For once." Leaping to the computers he got down on his hands and knees, and scooted underneath the consoles. He was quiet as he assessed the damage. "Cosmetic damage. Nothing important broken. Luckily." Fiddling with the mechanics of the system he rewired the power supply to the main screen. Shuffling to his feet he adjusted the programming, which in turn gained him access to the security footage. Several dozen images popped up on the four different screens. His eyes flickered between the footage , some cameras showed the front entrance , others the offices, etc... "Wait a second." His eyes snapped in on one specific screen, and he zoomed in.

The individual walked in to the lobby on unsteady legs. It was a woman, average height, cropped brown hair, long red coat. She was a member of staff, judging by the security officer granting her passage to the building. Unsteadily she made her way to main auditorium. Slowly unbuttoning her coat, the woman was trembling, sobbing. Dropping her coat to the floor a sickening sight was revealed. Her shirt was stained with blood. Protruding out of her chest was a metallic knife-like object. The woman looked up from her wound. And the Doctor lip read "I'm sorry." The screen flashed for a moment before being overtaken by static.

Rose stared at the now-blank screen for a few moments. "I know her- knew her." Rose corrected herself. "Michelle Hartman. This universe's Yvonne Hartman's cousin. She was nice, kept to herself. She was only a secretary, that's why they probably used her. But why didn't the security pick up the bomb? We have guns, but they're all registered in the security system so any unregistered metal would set off the alarm. So what the hell was that?"

He wrung his hands through his hair. "I don`t know. The metal bonded with her flesh? I have no clue. Who could do that? I don`t recognize the technology. A race unique to this universe? Gahh! Think! Think!" he hissed.

He clearly wasn't going to get anywhere freaking out like that. She leaned over and pressed the rewind button. "Lets just... rewatch it." They got to the part where Michelle opened her coat to reveal the knife. Rose paused on the best shot of it. "There." She squinted. "It- it doesn't really look like a knife, does it?" Obviously it was also the explosive, but it didn't look like it was from earth. Again, another obvious. Rose looked harder, and saw something familiar. "What's that?" she poked the screen. At the base of the knife thing were a decoration of soft lights. Looking closer, Rose went through the tape frame by frame, and a split second before the screen went white, Michelle's skin seemed to have beads of light shining weakly under several places in her skin.

Leaning toward the screen his face light up in realization. "The lights!" he jabbed excitedly at the screen. "Do you recognize the lights ? You've seen them before."

"I know, I know, I just can't place where I know 'em from-" And then it hit her. "But that's ridiculous. Impossible. You said it was harmless!"

"It was. It is. Oh no." His face fell. _What have I done now?_

"What, what is it?" Rose asked, crossing her arms. Her eyebrows knit with worry. "It's- the lights in her can't be what was in that thing. It did nothing but manifest _positive_ emotion, and if you look, the lights are all under her skin, but smooth. Not blocky like that shard was at all." He rubbed a hand across his face.

"Same technology different manifestation. The Altmerani. No wonder I didn't recognize it. The Altmerani are peaceful, they don't make weapons." But what had angered them? Were they here on Earth or did they have a ship in orbit?

"The shard, they must of used it as a- as a _beacon_. And I turned it on for them to hone in on."

"WE turned it on." Rose corrected him. "It was activated by the heavy negative emotions being emitted. But that would mean it was... it was on for a while now. Months, maybe. When did you first notice the energy fluctuations?"

"Couple of weeks back. Couldn't be bothered to look into it till now." He didn't mention why, now was not the time for that.

She blew out air exhaustedly through her mouth. "Well, I guess we'd better check out the auditorium... what's left of it."

"You do that I need to see if I can get a hold of the Altmerani. I need to talk to them." If he could get to the communication's deck perhaps he could hack into the satellites , they must of being watching Earth , probably through the satellite networks. This was his best bet.

Rose hesitated, disliking the thought of leaving him on his own, but initially decided there was no point. She ran off to find a way back up to the first floor.

* * *

She had found the pile of rubble that blocked the stairway. It was a mixture of glass, plaster, and broken furniture. Trying her luck, she carefully picked her way across the mound. It nearly reached the ceiling, and the floor above was so destroyed Rose thought she could see daylight shining through. Grabbing a fire extinguisher that was among the pile, she put it on her shoulder and heaved upwards, the weight of it crumbling the plaster. Bashing it again and again until a clean hole the size of her head was made, Rose threw the extinguisher away and scrabbled and the destroyed ceiling, crumbling the weakened stuff with her fingers. The metal base had been destroyed, and all she had to do was peel away the ceiling and carpet until a big enough hole was made to climb through. Grabbing both sides of the hole, Rose braced herself and thanked her lucky stars that working at Torchwood had buffed her up. She'd never have been able to do this a few years ago. She pulled herself up through the ceiling and onto the top floor.

The building was almost burnt beyond recognition, and had it not been for the increased amount of damage closer to the origin of the bomb, Rose probably wouldn't have been able to find the auditorium. She wasn't sure what she was really going to look for- the lights that had shown under Michelle's body at the last second? If they survived the explosion because of their alienness, would she have to pick them out of the splattered remains of Michelle? She shuddered a little inwardly. She'd seen some awful stuff over the past few years, but digging around for sparkly lights in a pile of human organ mince-meat didn't exactly appeal.

But it turned out that there was nothing really to worry about. The auditorium simply wasn't there anymore. Just a gaping chasm in the floor that was so wide Rose couldn't see the end of it, but could see several stories below, all the way down to the basement. "Damn. Of course, if the force of the explosion damaged the rest of the building like it has, of course there'd be nothing left. Stupid, stupid." she muttered. What the hell was she even supposed to look for now?

* * *

The communication's deck was void of life when the Doctor reached it, just as everywhere else had been. It was odd there weren't any corpses inside the building. Outside he had seen plenty of wounded and dying. But inside? that direction of thought away, he observed the equipment , the majority had been damaged beyond repair. He placed his mobile between his shoulder and his ear, his hands busy with trying to jump start the equipment. "Rose?"

Rose's phone vibrated and she came out of her reverie of staring across the enormous hole to pull it out and check the caller ID. Well, he was still alive at least. "Doctor, there's nothing left of the auditorium. Nothin'. Just a- a gapin' hole. Where are you? You get up to communications alright?"

"Alright" He had thought as much. "Can you make your way up here? I think I might need a hand." He didn't really need a hand, he just wanted her nearby, to keep and eye on. His past thought shoved the curtain of his other thoughts apart. "Have you seen any bodies?" He asked as he bent down to inspect the power cable of the antenna. It was slightly damaged but that was nothing that masking tape couldn't handle.

Rose had already been on her way, as soon as he'd called. "None, aside from the people outside and on the first floor, near the door y'know? You get a hold of those 'Al- Almarni' things ye-"

And then- something caught her eye. Not quite something shifting, but almost a change in the air around it. "Hold on, I think I may see somethin'- someone?" Rose approached cautiously to the shadow behind the fallen desk. "Hello? Who's there?" she called out softly. Then into the mobile: "Doctor, I think I see someone."

"Rose?" He dropped the cable. "What do you see? Rose, don't approach it." What could it be? The Altmerani? Why were they even doing this in the first place. War wasn't something they were familiar with. Violence wasn't something they were skilled with. Yet that bomb looked pretty effective to him. It had killed or displaced all the humans inside the building , that would explain the lack of corpses. Displacing , bomb technology wasn't what they specialized , but that knife , whatever it had been was of Altmerani origin. No other race used aeonic energy to fuel their technology. "Rose , please wait for me." he pleaded as he put down the phone and dashed back the way he came. Hoping and praying that he would get there in time.

* * *

Waiting had never been Rose's thing. One thing she'd learned both from being the Doctor's companion (and being on her own for those years) was that if there was danger, it was going to present a problem at one point or another, and usually it would become a danger no matter if she left or got a closer look. Waiting for him would do nothing. One thing about getting a closer look, though, was that if it was dangerous, you could get a head start on analyzing how to fight it, or whether you were going to die or not. Inching closer, Rose squinted at the dark-mass-of-something. It's silhouette against the wall was smooth but for a small jagged edge, like it was missing a piece. Whether it was humanoid she couldn't tell yet, it could be missing a part of an arm, head, or it could be a civilian wearing a modern hat.

The Doctor breath rushed out his heaved gasps. He knew she wouldn't wait for him. But that wouldn't stop him from hoping she wouldn't do anything stupid. Coming across a gaping hole in the floor, he knelt down, hoping to catch a glimpse of Rose, maybe he could reach her in time- the hole went straight through three floors worth of the building- a filing cabinet of some kind had crashed through and the Doctor could see all the way to the floor three stories beneath him. His breath hitched- he could see her faint silhouette in the darkness below. She was slowly approaching something.

A rushing sound was in his ears, and suddenly he was falling down the hole; he had _leapt _down, not caring for the drop that waited for him below. The new human impulsiveness had taken him by surprise, all he could think was that he needed to get to _Rose Rose Rose-_

He crashed onto the crumpled and bent file cabinet with an enormous hollow bang, landing on his shoulder about as wrongly as you could land on your shoulder in a destroyed and heavy file cabinet. Rose yelped a little at the noise as his arm caught painfully in an open drawer. It twisted suddenly, he heard a loud pop and felt his clavicle crunch against the cold hard metal. Grasping it in pain, he shoved the breathtaking wave of pain to the back of his mind and scrambled off the wreckage.

"Rose, stay where you are." He ordered authoritatively, barely missing a beat. Seeing him didn't surprise her (well, maybe his entrance might have, a little) but his strict tone did. She saw a little more of the old Doctor, especially that first one in the leather who'd always been so stern and protective. Nevertheless, she turned to the mass again.

"It's not alive. Might be another bomb, but I don't think so."

Still clutching his wounded shoulder, the Doctor stalked to the corner, slowing when he approached Rose. Getting to his hands and knees, he crawled to the creature which was enveloped in the shadow of the building. Raising a hand from the floor, he waved it mere inches from the form's "head". There was no response. It didn't react to the motion. "This is the Doctor speaking, I represent the human race." Silence. His tone was level, frosty. "I know you can hear me."

Rose took a step closer to the thing. "It doesn't seem to be alive. What is it?"

"I think it`s a messenger, they act as a go between people. You know how you send letters- they send these things. If I'm right there is an audio link." He looked up, as if he could see their ship from there.

"A messenger? From the 'Alter- Altermani' things you were talking about?" She came up beside the Doctor, looking at the thing more closely. "Is that what you are? A message between them and us? Well, tell me this then. Why are you doing this?" she asked quietly, with the smallest lilt of danger edging her voice.

And it _moved. _The figure shuddered, shakily got to it's feet, joints delicately sparking and creaking as it moved. The head twitched as it assessed those in front of it. It's robotic eyes clicked in a sort of cold recognition when it saw the Doctor. "It is his fault." The messenger raised its hand to point accusingly.

The Doctor was taken back. _His_ fault? He had done nothing to the Altmerani. He hadn't even known they'd existed in this universe. Rose stepped protectively in front of him. She glared at the Messenger. He hadn't done anything, he wasn't even the _real_ Doctor. Just a human. (of course he'd committed genocide against the Daleks, but that had with the help of advanced weapons belonging to the Daleks themselves) How could _he_ destroy an entire civilization? Rose felt a painful twinge when she thought that.

"What have I done? What is my fault?" the Doctor demanded.

The Messenger's whistling robotic voice clicked back. "You have destroyed their cities, killed millions. They are dead because of your wrath. And now you will suffer the pain they did." The mechanical fingers sparked and it clanked to the floor, an empty shell. Apparently it had finished conveying the message.

As soon as the thing had collapsed to the floor, Rose was on it, pulling open a panel on it's back. A million facts about robotics and machinery scrolled through her head, like an infinite book. She found a small wire disconnected from a tiny chip, but it had a strange clasp in between the two. "Just like I thought. Not pre-recorded, it responded to the question, it had relative freedom of thought, pointed at you and everything. A prerecorded message wouldn't do that, and the connection was severed. It shut itself down, or the wiring was damaged or somethin', but if we can reconnect the core.." She gingerly pulled the black wire out and squinted at it's end. Robotics had been one of those things she had caught onto fairly quickly in her classes at Torchwood, a hidden talent. Not so much a talent as what the Doctor had taught her. "If we reconnect this clasp we can get more answers."

The Doctor blinked. She _had_ changed. Years of fighting and being separated from her teacher- her friend- her soulmate- it had made her hard. Well, she had to be in order to get by in the world, he supposed. The universe was certainly not all an apple grass and hand holding fantasy a certain nineteen year old girl from the Powell Estate had once lived in. He rubbed his shoulder; it really did smart. It was stupid to have jumped, really.

"It's likely they cut the connection themselves, it was a mouth piece. You could try and see if they'll talk but they have said what the want for now." He scratched the back of his head. He remembered visiting their planet in the other universe. It was nothing spectacular, there was nothing overly special about the people. They were just _there_. _What I've supposedly done is impossible anyway. The TARDIS doesn't even work at the moment. _

_Unless._

_No, I wouldn't do that. I _couldn't. _I don't have it left in me to destroy another planet._

He looked down to Rose. _She won't let me._ _She won't._

Rose pried open the clasp part on the chip to insert the wire into the clamp. It was rather primitive technology, she could repair it by hand.

"If we're gonna get questions answered, the messenger'll be forced to speak for a full two minutes before it's owners can make the disconnect again. 'Cept this time, the entire wire'll be completely incinerated, no reattachment. We'll have to ask questions quickly." The figure twitched once more, active, but it did not get to it`s feet.

"When, when do I kill them?" The Doctor urged.

"Future, thousands of years in time." He mentally cursed himself. _Well, that doesn't help much._

"Have the Altmerani left any more bombs on planet Earth?" he asked, hoping to whatever forces that were watching over him, were in a merciful mood.

"No bombs." _Okay. I can deal with that._ He paced to and fro, the throbbing in his shoulder making it hard to think clearly.

Rose's eyes had become cold. "Here's the thing-" she said icily. "-'messenger'. I have several questions and points to make to you, and since you are a messenger droid with an AI chip that I just fortified, you are going to be required to listen and answer me for the next two minutes. Now. You have the wrong man. I don't know who the hell you're looking for, but it's not him. One-" She slowly approached it, not out of hesitance, but like a lion, stalking the predator of it's cub. "-He is human. He's not even the real Doctor, so if you're looking for him, you've got the completely wrong universe, mate." She felt him stiffen when she said it, and mentally apologized. But they could worry about hurt feelings later. "Two-" She was circling it now, protectiveness and anger for what it had done simmering under the surface. "Like I said, he's human. Or partly, at least. Last time I checked, humans didn't live for 'thousands of years'. He's going to be dead in the next century." Rose stopped, paused. "Three. Apparently you're doing this for revenge. But from what I hear, revenge isn't the Altemani's style. What would you have to gain? You blew up ONE building. ONE that could be replaced. So if you aren't Altermani-" her whisper was fierce and calm as she leaned in close. "Just what the hell are you? And what do you want?"

The automaton shuddered and spoke as frantically as a computer could. "The man. The man in the blue box will come and it will rain fire and ash. He will stand and watch as the citadels burn. He will witness the end. Their blood will be on his hands." The figures voice buzzed and it twitched its neck, clicking as it did so.

"He must be stopped. It is worth the loss of this world to save another. It is a warning. His hatred will fester and grow. It cannot be stopped. It burns like the suns. The loss. The anger. A warning."

The messenger's lights flickered, it was fading away. This machine couldn't lie, it didn't have a functioning cortex. It spoke the honest truth when asked a question. But why? It sounded like it was describing a wrathful god. Not him. He couldn't possibly. He looked to Rose. She had that scowl of hers on her face, the scowl that meant not only was she irritated, but thinking. Her mind was racing, countless thoughts were whizzing through her synapses. Could it possibly... No. He had to get out of here. The air was thick with dust, it was hard to breath, hard to think. He wanted out, he wanted away from the messenger and it's dark prophecy. He turned his back on them and began stalking off. He needed to see the sky.

Rose's shoulders sank. He was walking away. The Doctor never walked away. Then again, he wasn't the Doctor.

Her train of thought was momentarily broken, but she didn't turn around. They didn't have the time. "You haven't answered any of my questions. You aren't talking about _him_, he's just a human! Human with a brilliant mind, yes, but he has no resources, 70 years of life left tops, and no blue box."

And she smiled at it, not a sweet loving one or the laughing one where she put her tongue between her teeth. This was the smile she gave an abusive husband and father when she was embarrassing him, the smile she gave a Dalek as she gloated at destroying it's emperor, the smile she gave burglars as they robbed a TV store, brandishing her enormous gun. "He's got me though. And you just blew up MY building. I'm quite angry. And believe me, you don't want to deal with that." Her terrifying smile was frozen on her face as she nodded. "What's this warning you talk about. I better like your answer. Cut the enigmatic shit right now because I. Have. No. Time."

"He must be stopped." The machine made a harsh crackling noise. "In time. He will not be the man you know. You will be gone and he will hate." The lights faded and the head slumped down to the floor. It was dead, not that it was alive in the first place.

* * *

The Doctor sat , resting upon a large chunk of rubble. The emergency services had arrived by then and the whole area was bustling with rescue crew who were tending to the wounded, calming down the frightened and starting the clean up. With his head in his hands, he tried to push the image out of his head. No. Stop it. He groaned. Why now? When he was beginning to feel a spark of happiness. Maybe it wasn't for him. Was he really going to wallow in self pity again? He was better then that, wasn't he?

The Doctor heard her footsteps. Slow, lacking their aggression that had radiated from her every cell only moments earlier. Without a word, Rose sat down next to him on the rubble. They both sat in silence for a few moments. Fingers soft as butterfly wings brushed his arm almost hesitantly.

"Let me see that shoulder, it's probably dislocated, possibly broken." she murmured softly, daring to rest an entire hand on his shoulder which was sloping in a way it shouldn't. She pulled at his coat.

He flinched from her touch involuntarily. Gathering all the will he could muster, he allowed her to tend to it. "Sorry." He mumbled, not sure as to why he felt like it needed saying. He felt as though he had done something wrong, perhaps he was apologizing for the explosion, seeing as it _was_ his fault. Maybe he was apologizing for his broody and frankly petty behavior. Or he was apologizing for the future, whatever it was.  
He was always saying sorry, so sorry. "There's nothing to be sorry about. Now shut up and hold still." Rose said as she pulled off the sleeve of the brown jacket as gently as she could. She began to unbutton his shirt beneath. "That was rather stupid of you, a bit impulsive. Forgot that you weren't a Gallifreyan who could jump 30 feet and land without broken bones?" she asked dryly.

"Yep. Happens all the time, I'm afraid." he smirked. "I still think the whole one heart thing is _weird_." The city nearby was in a shambles, ash falling like snow from a sycorax ship over everything. over the It reminded him from a scene of one of those apocalypse movies in which the world was slowly crumbling apart. Perfectly befitting the way his life felt. He shook his head. All this moping wasn't befitting of him. "I'm impressed, you've picked up a lot of skills here at Torchwood then?" He asked changing the subject.

She laughed a little. "Here and there. They made us take classes on general mechanics, robotics, field medicine, you know. The basics of what we'd need to know to keep ourselves safe in action. I caught on so quickly because I was taught by the best." She pulled the shirt partway off his shoulder and winced. It was sickeningly pushed outwards on one area, and the other half pushed into itself. It leaned out of it's socket, stretching the extra empty flesh, a swollen purple-scarlet of blood pooling beneath skin. His delicate collarbone was noticeably caved in close to the shoulder, like it had been dented, but a while after the dent was the clear protrusion of bone beneath skin.

"Of all the ways to badly injure yourself, you do it jumping through a hole in a building from one story to the other." she sighed, hiding her worry with exasperation. "I was hoping it would be a simple dislocation I could fix, but like I said, I'm not medically trained beyond basic. We have to get you to a medic." she rubbed her eyes, a habit she had picked up from him.

"Nahhh. I'm fine." He waved her comment away with his free arm.

"Your shoulder isn't only dislocated, it's broken. Normally, I could pull it back, but- Part of it is pushed up from it's socket and the other part is crushed down. Judging by the bruising, you probably got an artery or somethin' nicked in the process. Oh, and the end of your collarbone is snapped in half so unless you want to make a false move and have a piece of bone erupting through your skin, I think we should do something about it." She was carefully buttoning up his shirt again, hoping that as long as he had clothes on, it would hold the bone relatively in place.

"We have new alien tech that can hopefully speed up the healing process, not sure how it would work on you, considering you're not completely human." She was going through the motions, talking of tech and biology to distract him from emotion. But maybe that wasn't what he needed. She paused in her meaningless chatter, letting a pensive sort of quiet stretch out for a few moments.

"It was wrong." she said quietly. "I'll always be here."

He swallowed around the annoying lump that suddenly filled his esophagus. "I know." It was a lie, and a smile of false hope that he mustered, but a smile nonetheless. "I'm glad. Thank you."

Rose avoided his eyes and stood, brushing at her jeans, despite their obvious ruin. "Our hospital, under the normal local one, Dad set up a hospital specifically for-" And that's when it hit her. The thing she had been too busy to think about.

"My dad. Mum called, she doesn't know where he is." she whispered, blanching. She quickly dialed Pete's number. Just a dial tone, then went to his answering machine. "Dad? Where are you? Are you- okay? Mum's gonna- gonna have a cow. Call me back." She swallowed around the bitter dryness in her mouth and hung up.

_Pete. Damn, I knew I was forgetting something._ the Doctor internally berated himself. "We'll find him. I promise." This time yesterday, Pete would have been in his office, sorting out the hell ton of paper work stacked up on his desk.

"I'd bet he is in his office." He took her hand- oh, it fit in his perfectly- and began tugging her in that direction. He didn't really feel like he was up to clambering back into the building but he had little choice.

Rose wanted to tell him to stop running, if he jostled the broken bone too much it would come through the skin, and that would be a disaster. If it _had _gotten his artery, what if it gashed it if he moved too quickly? He could bleed out. But now didn't seem like an appropriate time.

"But that means he would've been here- with everyone else- when the place blew. Where _is_ everyone else?" she gasped frantically, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

Dust swirled around his chucks as he stopped, caught her gaze and held it. "Do you trust me?" He asked, both out of curiosity but also to calm her down. He needed her focused. He held her hand tightly in his reassuringly.

Rose swallowed and looked into his eyes. It should come right out. _Of course I trust him. _But the words didn't seem to want to come. His hand felt so familiar, so human, yet the gentle, single pulse reminded her of who he was. It was such a small question, one the Doctor had asked her a million times, and a million times she had answered "Yes." Why couldn't she manage it? He was the same man in essence. Wasn't he?

"Of course." Rose said quickly, the words barely scraping past the thickness on her tongue that tried to keep lies from escaping. She did trust him, didn't she? Didn't she? Rose quieted her mind and squeezed his hand. "Do you have any ideas on where they all are?"

The Doctor pretended not to hear her reluctance, both for his sake and the slightly dire situation. "No... _Yes_. Well. I don't know. Exactly. BUT they're not dead. If the Altmerani wanted them dead, they would have just left them there." He scratched at his wild hair. "_Maybe_ the bomb let off a dissipation field, removed all life forms in the radius. I just have to figure out where they went. Couldn't've e been too far, it is a transmatt, after all." He wanted to slap his head to encourage thought (it worked sometimes) but he was to reluctant to let go of her hand.

"If I can get my hands on some scanners I could check. Dissipation energy is pretty easy to track down."  
Rose took the opportunity to turn around to start walking and let go of his hand, making it seem as if it was unconscious. She didn't want to be painfully reminded anymore that it wasn't the same hand that had been accompanied by "Run." all those years ago. "There should be some- down in ET relations, we just got some new, advanced ones in last week." she called back, speeding up to a run. "I'll just pop down there and be right back, you shouldn't move." And with that, she was gone.

He let out a sigh, his hand cold. It felt wrong, as if a piece of the puzzle had been removed. She almost seemed eager to let go of his hand, like she had been hunting for an excuse to do so. _So she _hasn't_ forgiven me._ And there he was, thinking things were getting better between the two of them. Sure, he knew things would not get better as quickly as that , there were old wounds that needed healing, that needed tending to. But it seemed like Rose wouldn't let him, she seemed to be clinging on to what hurt her the most. Why?

_I just want to help._ He even tried acting like _him._ it was a conscious action he took. He hadn't felt very Doctorish of late. Sometimes he would find himself referring to 'The Doctor' as himself- and technically, he was. But the pained looks Rose gave him told him he shouldn't. He was _a_ Doctor, not _her_ Doctor. And he was wrong to have hoped so.

He huffed out a sigh, wincing as the movement twinged his shoulder. She was right. He was impulsive, he was reckless. The _Doctor_ would have solved this by now, the Altmerani would have forgiven and forgotten, the missing people found and safe. Rose would be smiling, proud to call herself his friend, his companion. But right now, she seemed to loathe -well, not _loathe- _but she seemed distant. Get the job done, leave emotions out of it. What had happened earlier was only a brief reflection of what they could have. Running down the corridor, hand in hand. Not that they would. She didn't want him. Why had he fooled himself into thinking she had? He was setting himself up for failure. Again.

* * *

Rose kept her mind clear of thoughts as she ran to get the scanner from the room. The burn in her muscles as she climbed up another story through the gaping hole above the auditorium felt good, a release and distraction. Her concentration on not falling to her death kept her mind occupied. Good, good, I just need to find the scanner now. The ten-inch steel door to the room had been blown down and bent in half like paper, and she squeezed through the opening. Once she had what she needed, she wriggled back out. And then everything hit her. Rose had to fight not to sink to her knees with exhaustion. Torchwood was basically gone. People, both innocent civilians and gifted Torchwood employees were wounded and dead. Her father was no where to be found, along with a few hundred other people. Also possibly dead. The world was under alien invasion for something that didn't seem even plausible, and it could possibly end. The Doctor was badly wounded, however he tried to play it off as if it were nothing. Everything felt wrong. She felt so alone. That's what she'd been feeling for a year now. It was worse than before, when she had hope and a goal to get back to the Doctor, and she always thought everything would be perfect, back to the way it should be once she found him. She would never feel alone again. The idea of getting back to him had kept her company on those sleepless nights she had spent working on the dimensional cannon. Now, she had nothing. How was she supposed to miss the Doctor when he was right there? To be honest, it was a little overwhelming to say the least.

Rose took a few deep breaths and got a hold of herself again. _Come now, you're bein' stupid and selfish._ _There are several billion people at stake and you're only one. _That was another thing that had hardened her from working with Torchwood, opened her eyes. She was insignificant, she was disposable and didn't matter. Now that she had no goal to get back to the Doctor, her job was to protect. Rose shimmied down several dead power cables holding the scanners in her teeth.

It only took two minutes to reach him again. He couldn't resist smiling when he heard her voice snap him out of his dark pondering. "I brought two, one that tracks and determines energy patterns, and another that tracks and identifies life forms." she said breathlessly.

"You are a saint, Miss Tyler." He took one of the scanners gratefully. Rose smiled weakly but felt guilty that she could make him so happy. The way his face lit up when he saw her broke her heart. After all she had done to him, she shouldn't be able to make him look like that. Not when she still couldn't make herself accept him. He gestured at her vaguely. He whipped on the brainy specs from his jacket pocket.

"Now give me a second to adjust the aptitude." He placed the scanner on the rubble he had been sitting on so he could fiddle with it using his good arm. He hummed in concentration. "Dissipation energy is measured in rels, I think. So divide the number of units, 50 divided by 0.78484 is 63.7072524336." He scratched his head as the scanners dial wiggled as it calibrated to the new settings. "Give it a moment."

"We really should do something about that shoulder." she said aside. The Doctor ignored her and she sighed in defeat. "We're waiting until both numbers go to zero, yeah?"

"Uh-huh." He nodded absently, touching his tongue lightly to his teeth in concentration. He straightened from his crouched position on the floor grumbling to himself about human bone density as he stood and resisted the urge to rub his shoulder.

"You aren't going to _last_ another forty to fifty years if you keep this up." Rose folded her arms. She walked closer to him, so close she could feel the heat through his suit, two degrees higher than your average human. The dark curtain of her lashes shielded the honey brown of her eyes as she looked down at the scanner's screen.

"Nahh I'll be fine, I`m jammy." His tone was forcefully light, despite the fact that the adrenaline coursing through his bloodstream was wearing off, the pain in his shoulder was beginning to become a lot more pronounced. He could handle it for now, but Rose was right- he would have to get medical attention soon. He didn't like hospitals. "Should be done in a tick." he noted as the dial began to stop its fluctuations.

Rose nodded and wandered a few feet away. She wondered how mum and Tony were. She decided she ought to call them as long she was waiting, mum was probably past frantic. She took a deep breath as she listened to the ring tone. It picked up after one ring.

"ROSE TYLER WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" Jackie's voice was so loud even the Doctor cringed from several yards away.  
"I'm fine mum, we're just-"  
"TORCHWOOD HAS BEEN BLOWN TO PIECES, YOU BLOODY HANG UP WHEN I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S GOING ON-"  
"We're both here. The Doctor and I, we were out like I said. Dad's not here."

Finally silence on Jackie's end. The fury had fizzled itself out into seriousness.  
"No body, nothing?"  
"That's the thing, mum, there are no bodies inside the building. We think that it was some sort of dissipation field that transported them after the bomb went off, we're working on finding them right now."

A longer silence. Then, "I've got several of the people who were injured rooming with us. Well, when I mean several..." she trailed off and cleared her throat. "UNIT should be arriving any minute, but for now they've got the building on lockdown. I've got the security scanners here running over the building, I'll tell you if anything shows up."

Rose swallowed. "Thanks mum, I'll call you once we're clear if we find anything."  
"Stay safe sweetheart. And Doctor, if you can hear me, I want her back without a single scratch on 'er!"

Rose smiled wanly. "Love you."  
"I love you too. You'll find him." The line went dead. Rose hadn't been the only Tyler woman to be transformed into a hardened soldier.

With a flick of his hand The Doctor beckoned Rose`s attention back to the scanner , it had finished calibrating and was ready for use. "Let`s see here, shall we?" He picked it up and spun on the spot, his arm extended as he read the readings.

"That's odd." he muttered, brow crinkling in confusion. He turned back to the face the Torchwood building. The scanner whirred, directing to the source of the input, but where was the output? "Have you tried calling him again?"

"Dad, you mean?" Rose asked, biting her lower lip. "No, not yet. I only tried once. Why?"

"Try again." Awkwardly reaching into his pocket he fished out a screwdriver (unfortunately not sonic). Peeling the back off the scanner he peered inside. Nope, structurally it was sound. The readings were not a mistake.

Rose looked at the Doctor for a few moments curiously. Then she pressed speed dial again and put the phone to her ear. Waited. She glanced at him again, and making an hand gesture_. What am I doing this for? What are we waiting for?_

A ringtone called out. It was close , but even then he could not put his finger on the location. "Where is that coming from?" the Doctor mumbled.  
Rose's heart rose in hope. It was one of those song clip type of ringtones, and the tinny voice sang some distant cheesy lyric.

"There!" Rose turned. Behind the cubicles. She took off in pursuit, heart pounding.

The Doctor sighed, missing his respiratory bypass system painfully; he sort of slugged after her. When he arrived, the scene before would have actually have been funny in any other situation. All the members of staff collapsed in some rather comical positions. None appeared to be injured, just unconscious, which he had expected. Receiving a dosage of dissipation was like being whacked on the head. A mild concussion, but otherwise they would be fine.

So the Altmerani had only wanted to get his attention, not slaughter hundreds.  
_Well, that's a comfort_. _Not much to the woman with the bomb embedded in her chest, though. _He squinted in frustration at the sky through the massive hole that peeked out to the ironically cheery warm weather. _What are they up to?_

* * *

Rose had stopped in shock at all the unconscious bodies. She listened carefully to the ringtone. There was no doubt about it, it was her dad's. It was that really unbearable seventies love song, "You Light Up My Life" that had been playing when her mum and dad had met at the secondary school dance of all places, as disgustingly cliche as it was. It was "their song" and he hummed it off-key whenever they got really sappy. It was a really terrible song, but Rose had never loved the sound so much.

"_And you light up my life. You give me hope to carry on._"

Rose ran through the dozens of bodies. "Dad? Dad?" Rose knelt at the spot the ringing was the loudest. Where was it, where was it? Where was he? Her heart sank when she pulled out the black square.

_"You light up my days. And fill my nights,"_

It was just a lone phone. Pete wasn't with it.

_"With song."_

Rose took a deep breath and hung up the phone from her call. Did that mean they had taken him? She put the phone to her forehead, thinking. "He's not here. Have they taken him?" _For what? A bargaining chip?_

"If he was they would have given us their conditions. The messenger did not, so I have no clue. Maybe he wandered off?" He sounded hopeful, but since when was anything that easy? It never was. Oh well, a man could dream.

Rose bit her lip and gathered herself again. She was bringing her father home. Her mum was going to live the rest of her life with him to make up for the two decades they had been gipped out on and Tony wasn't going to grow up fatherless like she had. Tucking the phone into her pocket, she stood, looking around. "We should check on the other employees." Then she frowned. "Something doesn't... feel right, though." It was one of those unexplainable feelings you got when someone had moved something in a room without you knowing, but you couldn't pinpoint just what.  
The Doctor approached the nearest unconscious woman, crouching down and her rouged cheek. Nothing. "Hello?" No response. Placing his ear above her nose, he heard the woman's slow, deep breaths. They were alive, but it appeared no one was home. "Where is their consciousness? What would the Altmerani want with them?"

Rose was still looking warily around. "I think we should go." she said quietly as the Doctor pulled up the eyelid of another employee. "Doctor, did you hear me?" The air tasted almost metallic, every hair on her neck and arms rose in static electricity, her blonde hair frizzled with life.

"Hmm?" Then he sensed it, he had been blinded by the pain and his thoughts. _Stupid stupid stupid._ The air was heavy, thick with an underlying power source. He sniffed, clicking his tongue to the roof of his mouth. "Mellatoids in the air. Energy conductor." Using his other arm he propped himself up onto his feet. Looking to the sky he squinted. "Oh, this is too much. The bomb was certainly out of character- but this?" he grumbled. "Where the hell is UNIT? They should be here by now. Oh no, but that'd be too simple." He bent down, fishing a small piece of rubble off the floor. He threw it to the sky, and watched as the small piece of concrete hit something and sparked, fizzling into nothing. He scowled. "Just can't catch a break, can I?"

The smell of metal invaded Rose's sinuses. "Electric force field." she muttered. "Of course. So now we're trapped inside and no one's getting in. If we try..." she trailed off. "We get cooked to a crisp." the Doctor confirmed.

"Damn." she groaned. _I really was hoping to get that shoulder of his fixed_. That's where her mind went to first, before the, "Shit, they're probably going to take us hostage now." or "I hope UNIT soldiers don't blindly try to come in and get cooked." that followed soon afterwards. "Plan?" Rose breathed looking up at the pulsating force field above. "Why am I asking you. I know what you say about plans." she smiled weakly, trying to cheer him by referring to him as the Doctor.  
"You mean how I don't have one?" his mouth twisted in a half-attempt at a smile.

"I do, actually. This is a nifty way of getting my attention and penning me in. They have what they want." He looked to the sky, knowing they were being watched.

"The ball is in their court. I suggest we wait and see." He resisted the urge to hook his hand behind his back. That would be rather painful- and not for his shoulder. "The Altmerani LOVE to talk. And I happen to LOVE to listen. So go on then!" he pointed to the clouds mockingly. "I'm alllll ears!"

Rose smiled wanly. "The Unstoppable Gob finally learns to listen, that'll be the day." she muttered to herself. That certain spark that was the Doctor was shining through again, and even though one of his arms was hardly attached, he must've been feeling like crap, and he was blamed for the genocide of yet another alien race, he seemed to have come back to himself a little.

_Maybe he has trouble being the Doctor because I don't let him. _The realization felt like a pitcher of ice water had been dumped over her head, and a little too on the nose for her liking. She shuddered guiltily. _How is he supposed to be himself if I don't believe in him? Of course he'd stop believing in himself, too._ Rose thought with sudden painful clarity.

_Now is not the time._ She cleared her mind and glared up at the clouds, as if daring them to speak.

The field shimmered for a moment, flickering away briefly before reappearing again. Silent flashes of lightening, two hulking figures appeared, about 10 paces down. The Doctor recognized them immediately. _They're not Altmerani._ He blinked in surprise. _Well, _that_ makes sense now._

"The _Delter_mani?" he almost shouted in disbelief. He blinked, and a large grin bloomed across his face.

"Ahhh, I see now. _You_ set this up!" The Doctor nodded in understanding, feeling slightly more at ease. _This _made some sense, finally. However, the Deltermani strode down the road, seemingly intent with talking, how un-Deltermani.

Rose didn't take her eyes off the figures, leaning in nearly imperceptibly and asking from the corner of her mouth, "I thought you said they were Altermani." She hissed and narrowed her eyes at the two shadowy figures wearing armor covered in blinking lights. "Care to help the full-human catch up?"

He spoke quickly under his breath. "The Deltermani, war loving, hard working people. The Altmerani and the Deltermani used to be a single race, but had split into separate species through the course of evolution. But despite genetic and major cultural differences, they had remained close. Pretty much best buddies. They like war, killing , generally being angry, right up there with Sontarans."

"Ah. Great. Lucky us." Rose smiled stiffly through gritted teeth.

"Doctor." One of the figures spoke, its voice deep and gravely.

"Yep thats me." He wiggled his fingers. The Deltermani relatively humanoid, although taller than the average human by about two feet, with dry pinkish skin and startling red irises.

"Enjoy bein' angry, do ya? Well there's something we have in common." Rose said bitingly.

"We need to exchange words." it said.

She gave it the infamous Tyler scowl. "That better not be the only thing you exchange, buddy. People are missin'. Namely, my father."

The leader scowled, already not liking the pesky human female. "Doctor. You understand why we are here?"

The Doctor's eyes hardened, but he nodded, jaw clenching.

"Then we ask you. We plead of you. Stop."

The Doctor was confused. The mighty warriors were _begging_? _Stop? Stop what? I'm wasn't doing anything._ "I understand you are angry about the Altmerani- but this? You pride yourself on glory. _This_-" the Doctor swept his arms to the horrible destruction and chaos, "_this_ isn't is- mindless! And we both know you are not mindless. I have no idea what you are on about, but we can sort this out like reasonable folk." He pleaded.

It spoke again. "Just go, distance yourself. If you continue on this path, the pain you will experience is beyond belief. It will make you hate. We know you are a good man. You would not want the future we have seen. But you are darkened, pieces of you are full of hate and decay and they can spread, ruin you. Please- _stop_."

The leader seemed desperate, like he was clutching at straws.

Rose cut in. "Okay, we get that bit. Care to explain how it all happens, because at the moment it doesn't exactly seem possible. Like, not just because I believe he is too good to become what you say he will, but also because several parts of your story doesn't exactly match up with reality. So stop being enigmatic and cut to the chase, yeah?" she raised an eyebrow to accompany that terrifying frozen smile of hers.  
The leader looked to the human girl again, she was rude. But she was key in this, and she was much more than she appeared. "He will suffer a loss, _Wolf_." he growled at her. Rose balked. How could he-?

His crimson eyes stared through her, and he seemed almost frightened by what he saw. "It will ruin him." The leader shook his head, not wanting to expand any more.

Rose scowled at the leader. How in the hell were they supposed to stop it if they didn't know what to watch out for?

The Doctor meanwhile was thinking, his mind racing through the possibilities. _In the future then, 1 or 2 years time. When the TARDIS is fully grown._ He set his jaw, voice steadied. "What would you have me do?"

The leader stared at the former Time Lord and the Wolf, and the Doctor nodded tensely, knowing what they were suggesting.

"If I do, will you bring them back? Will you leave?" He asked after several moments of thought. He was not sure if he could bring himself to do it. _No. I have to._

"Yes. If you swear by the Shadow Proclamation." It extended it's hand. Stepping forward The Doctor grasped the meaty reddened palm, closing his eyes briefly, as if steeling himself.

"I swear." The red eyed man, satisfied with his response, stepped away and spoke gutturally into his wrist, and the force field vanished with a _pop_.

The leader met the Doctor's gaze once again, red eyes burning with an honest threat. "If you do not stay true to your word, Human-Time Lord, we will come back, and we will kill you." he growled simply.

The figures evaporated back into the air.

* * *

_Sorry I took so long, I'm a bad bad writer. But school just got out, and this was a long chapter to edit. It used to be **much **longer. Thanks very much to Ashena-Iulik who helped me adjust the injuries properly with her paramedic info. Love you all! Next chapter will hopefully be up by next week, or at the very latest, the week after!_


	3. Please don't kill me

Okay, Ive been bad, but I have a reason.

1. I am currently a main role in a musical and tech week is next week=increased rehearsals

2. The partially edited version of chapter 3 has been sucked into cyber space or some shizz

3. I am debating over the length

So I'm asking you- would you like it split in two with an update sooner

OR

would you like a super duper long chapter

OR

would you like _just delete all those fluffy scenes they don't progress the story._

PLEASE PM me or leave a review. I know, I'm sorry this isn't a real update. I'll give you a preview to say I'm sorry.

* * *

_He was standing on the beach, rain rushing down in vicious torrents. He was soaked to the bone, his suit provided little protection from the drench. The sea was stormy, the foamy tide violently beat against the cluster of rocks that perched on the beach. The sound of timid footsteps against the soggy sand was as loud as creaking floor boards in an silent house. He turned, brightened at the glorious sight of the person he would never forget. Her sunshine hair was plastered to her head, her honey eyes downcast. _

_"Rose." He murmured, his hand rising automatically. She stood frozen, a perfect image of stillness, her face covered by the veil of her hair. Her hands flocked to her stomach and she hunched over in pain. Beads of scarlet sprayed from her lips as she heaved._

_"Doctor." she gasped, her voice steeping in agony. She took a step forward, legs wobbling under her weight. _

_ "No!" Rose faintly heard. It was the the same voice that had screamed her name as she was sucked into the white of hell, the same agony. He was running, running, faster! But it was as if he was moving through syrup, and she collapsed onto the ground like a puppet who's strings had been cut._

_Rose watched herself bleed delicately through the grains of wet sand, strangely unaffected. She couldn't do anything. It was like being trapped behind the time window mirror, watching a strange woman with her Doctor. Unable to be seen or heard, unable to touch. Only watch. Only listen._

* * *

Get ready for angst next time my lovelies!


End file.
